


The Little Things

by firefright



Series: Talon and the Hood [12]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Domesticity, Fluff, Gen, Haircuts, M/M, Tiny bit of Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-07 02:18:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14070702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefright/pseuds/firefright
Summary: There are many skills an ex-Talon is master of, but self care is not one of them. Jason takes some steps to help him correct that.





	The Little Things

**Author's Note:**

> When I first started writing this it was with the mind to put it into the Unseen Moments collection, but since that's meant for snippets under 1k and this got a bit longer than that it now gets to be its own thing instead. Please enjoy this bit of pre-BoTR fluff with only the teeniest bit of angst everybody :D

“You’re acting like a child,” Jason says in exasperation, watching as his partner shoots him a mutinous glare from underneath the blanket of their bed. “You know that, right?”

In other circumstances, the behaviour would be cute, maybe even adorable, but right now it’s just annoying. It’s not as if he’s sprung this on Blue out of nowhere, after all. In fact, they’ve talked about it at least three times so far this week.

“I don’t want a haircut.” Comes the sullen reply, completely offsetting any effect the glare from those golden edged eyes might have on him. “It’s fine the way it is.”

Jason rolls his eyes. “When we were after those gangbangers last night, you choked on your hair. I heard it. That’s not fine, Blue.”

“It was windy.” Blue protests, but Jason has no sympathy for him.

“Look, you can either start tying it back or let me trim it for you, your choice. But I’m not going to be the one picking you up off the sidewalk after you get stabbed some night because you couldn’t see straight through your hair.” He lifts his right hand, displaying the scissors he’s holding. “It’ll take ten minutes, that’s all.”

Blue’s eyes flick dubiously to the blades. “I like it loose.” he says.

“Well then, I guess I’m cutting it.”

Blue retreats further back under the blanket. “I can do it myself.”

“When? Next year? Come on, Blue, just let me help you.” Jason lowers his voice, moving closer to the bed as he attempts to coax him out. He lifts his other hand to the back of his head, giving what he hopes is a charming smile. “I did a good job on mine, right?”

Blue’s eyes narrow, shining like a cat’s in the dark. “You shaved yours.”

“Only the back and sides.” Jason corrects. He reaches up and tugs on his bangs and the longer parts on top, “I cut the rest with the scissors. Don’t you like it?”

It’s a bit of an unfair question. Jason knows Blue likes it, but for Blue admitting that will also be admitting that Jason is perfectly capable of cutting his own hair in a way that won’t be terrible. Something he’d feel bad about forcing his partner into, _if_ his motivations for getting Blue to do so weren’t so practical. ‘Deadly assassin undone by his own hair’ was not an epitaph anyone wanted written on their gravestone.

Blue scowls at him, knowing exactly what it is he’s up to. “Of course I do.”

“Then you know I can do a good job with yours as well.” Jason beckons, “C’mon, Blue. I promise not to cut it short, just let me tidy it up a bit. Please?”

It’s the please that does it. Blue sighs before sitting up, the blanket slipping from his head and down his shoulders. “Fine, but you owe me, little bird.”

Jason snorts as he offers him his hand, “Right, I owe you. Let’s see if you still say that ten minutes from now.”

Blue allows Jason to pull him to his feet. As soon as he’s standing, he leans in and nips sharply at the lobe of Jason’s ear, causing him to shiver. It’s an admonishment, but not much of one, and Blue makes no further protest as he follows him into the kitchen where Jason has set up a chair on top of some old newspaper. He gestures for Blue to take a seat before draping a towel across his shoulders and picking up the hairbrush from where he’d left it on the counter, before turning to start running it through his hair.

This part at least, Blue has no objection to. As Jason carefully works out the knots that have formed while he was asleep, his partner melts like butter in a pan, leaning into every stroke. Half expecting him to start purring any minute, Jason smiles, “Sometimes you’re more like a cat than a bird. You know that, right? Sulking in corners and begging to be petted.”

“You should hope not,” Blue murmurs languidly, evidently too relaxed to be truly annoyed by the statement. “Cats eat birds.”

“Given the state of my neck after you’re done leaving hickeys on it most nights, I’m not sure that’s an argument.” 

As soon as Jason has Blue’s hair running straight and silky through his fingers, he sets the brush down, exchanging it for the scissors. “Not short.” Blue reminds him one last time, pulling his legs up onto the chair and twisting his hands together in his lap as if to ward off evil.

“Not short,” Jason confirms, “Just tidy.”

He drops a kiss onto the top of Blue’s head before he makes the first snip, and for the next few minutes that sound is the only one that fills the room. Despite his earlier apprehension, Blue stays perfectly still for Jason, which is good, because it’s taking a lot of concentration for him make sure the end of every strand stays even.

“Where did you learn to do this?” Blue abruptly asks after a while. Jason blinks, frowning before answering.

“My mom used to cut my hair for me when I was little. We didn’t have much money, so we saved it anywhere we could. After she got sick… well, learning how to do it for myself became a necessity. Wasn’t very good at it back then, of course. Got better, though. Especially after I came back.”

Then it had been less a matter of not being able to afford a professionally done haircut and more a need to feel completely self-reliant. Jason doesn’t much remember his time as an invalid under Talia’s care, but what he can recall has left him with an even more fiercely independent streak than he had before. In fact, the only other time he’d ever consciously let someone else cut his hair was when he lived at the manor. Alfred had done it at first, before Jason started accompanying Bruce on his visits to his own personal stylist, with the reasoning that anyone Bruce trusted to take care of his appearance was someone he could trust too.

The memory is warm for a moment, before the now familiar bitterness sets back in.

“How about you?” Jason asks to move past it. He pauses in his ministrations to give Blue’s hair a fond tug, “What’ve you been doing with this all your life?”

“Brushing it.” Blue says defensively, as if to prove he’s not totally hopeless. He pauses, “And sometimes I used a knife.”

“You cut your hair with a _knife_?”

“It worked!”

Jason resists slapping his palm against his forehead, “Well that explains why it isn’t straight, at least.”

In front of him, Blue’s shoulders twitch, and the tilt of his head moves downwards as he curls in on himself. “It’s not as if anyone ever taught me how.” he mutters sourly, “And I couldn’t exactly walk into a salon to get it done either.”

Immediately, Jason regrets his words. Setting the scissors aside, he leans down over Blue’s back, ignoring the strands of hair on the towel around his neck and embracing him from behind. “Yeah. Yeah, I know, Blue. I’m sorry, I should have thought. But hey,” he smiles, kissing his jaw, “That’s what you got me for now, right? Your own personal hairdresser.”

For a moment the tension stays, then in the space of a breath melts away. Blue reaches his hand up, tangling it in Jason’s bangs as he turns his head to return the kiss. “It’s _part_ of what I have you for, little bird.”

He grins, “Oh yeah? What’re the other parts?”

“Cooking.” Blue smartly replies.

Surprised, Jason barks with laughter. “All right, yeah, I guess I am pretty good at that too. Anything else?”

“Cleaning.”

That’s a little less cute. “Blue…” he groans, rolling his eyes.

Blue smirks up at him, and this time the nip goes to his jaw. Jason shivers happily. “Fine, I suppose for your devilish good looks as well.”

“That’s better,” Jason says approvingly, “Now, how about you let me get on and finish this. Then maybe I’ll think about using all those other skills you just mentioned to do something else nice for you tonight. Deal?”

Blue doesn’t answer him verbally, but he sits up straight without being prompted this time, and Jason smiles as he returns his hands to cutting his hair.

When in doubt, bribery always works.

**Author's Note:**

> [My tumblr](https://firefrightfic.tumblr.com/).


End file.
